More Articles

The Dispatch E-Edition

All current subscribers have full access to Digital D, which includes the E-Edition and
unlimited premium content on Dispatch.com, BuckeyeXtra.com, BlueJacketsXtra.com and
DispatchPolitics.com.
Subscribe
today!

WASHINGTON — If you didn’t bother filing a federal tax return for 2009, it might be a good time
to rethink your tax strategy.

The Internal Revenue Service says it has $917 million in unclaimed tax refunds from 2009, and
time is running out to claim them.

The refunds are owed to nearly 1 million people who failed to file returns for 2009. Taxpayers
must file their 2009 returns by April 15 to claim their refunds. If taxpayers don’t file returns,
the law says they have a three-year window to claim refunds. After that, the money becomes property
of the U.S. Treasury.

The IRS says there is no penalty for filing a late return that qualifies for a refund. But the
agency says refunds might be delayed if taxpayers also failed to file returns for 2010 and
2011.

The government also can withhold tax refunds to settle unpaid federal and state taxes, unpaid
child support and past-due student loans.

People in every state and the District of Columbia are owed refunds, including 100,700 people in
California and 86,000 in Texas, the IRS said. Most of the refunds exceed $500.

In Ohio, 32,100 people might be eligible for refunds totaling $26.7 million. The median refund —
half are more and half are less — is $561.

Some people did not file a return because they made too little money and weren’t required to
file, the IRS said. However, if federal income taxes were withheld from their pay, they might be
entitled to refunds.

Also, many low- and middle-income people who didn’t file returns might be missing out on the
Earned Income Tax Credit. In 2009, a married couple with three or more children could earn up to
$48,279 and qualify for the credit. Income thresholds are lower for couples and for single filers
with fewer children.